yet another reminder why natural disasters are deadly

yoshmaster5 · Post by **yoshmaster5** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 3:14 pm

*continued from topic title* only second to Nuclear bombs.

http://apnews1.iwon.com//article/200412 ... e&SEC=news

an 8.9 Magnitude earthquake. *shudder* jeez... the tsunamis caused by that were deadly.

Sailorasteroid · Post by **Sailorasteroid** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 10:02 pm

Actually, according to the AP story, the quake was, by some estimates, the equivalent of one million atomic bombs exploding.

Sakuya · Post by **Sakuya** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 10:16 pm

Wow, an actual tidal wave? I wonder what it looked like. That's scary.

SailorSpace · Post by **SailorSpace** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 11:39 pm

I'm suddenly glad I don't live in Indonesia.........That sucks, over 10,000 people dead.

Post by **AnimeGuru0** » Tue Dec 28, 2004 12:45 am

Actually, the death toll is over 22,000 now, nearing 23,000. It's completely devestated those countries, and thousands more will more than likely die due to water born diseases like cholerea, malaria, etc.

It's truly a horrible horrible event.

As for what tsunamis look like, most people think of it as a large cresting wave (like waves that hurricanes produce). Actually, tsunamis RARELY look like that all. The way most people describe it is like this:

You're looking out at the ocean. You see a somewhat larger than usual wave crash on the beach (but nothing that startles you). You're somewhat surprised when instead of rolling back out to sea, it just keeps heading inland. "WTF?" You think to yourself. It crests past your ankles at a surprisingly fast speed. You find yourself surprised that after a few seconds, this relatively small looking wave has you engulfed all the way to the waist. You sneeze. After you recover from your sneeze, the water has moved its way up to your neck. You are now floating down main street, not knowing wtf has just happened. You slam into a building. The building and you float off into the distance. Two hours later you find yourself on the 5th story of a hotel, not knowing how the freak you got there.

That's pretty much how it goes.

peachvampiress · Post by **peachvampiress** » Tue Dec 28, 2004 1:24 am

AnimeGuru0

Actually, the death toll is over 22,000 now, nearing 23,000.

Unfortunatley, it's passed 23,000 now. Link
Some think it'll climb to 25,000

Tsunami's are pretty fucking strong, even when they're small. When I was in Kushiro, which is on the East Coast of Hokkaido, the west coast got hit with a fairly stong, but none threatening tsunami. We got some really strong, nasty winds despite how far away we were. A lot of schools got cancelled to. I can only imagine how damaged places untouched my this tsunami are.

KoiNoVash · Post by **KoiNoVash** » Tue Dec 28, 2004 1:24 am

I feel really bad for the people who lost family members in the tsunamis, especially those that lost children. I read an article on CNN that it is estimated that over 1/3 of the people who died are children. It's horrible over there and I hope that relief workers and aid money gets to those people as soon as possible.

Post by **Tiff** » Tue Dec 28, 2004 1:25 am

*Shakes head*

I cannot even imagine going through something that devastating.

The sheer magnitude of how traumatizing that must be for everyone involved...I cannot even comprehend it.

I don't even want to read or hear about it...It just makes me sadder, to hear that the death toll just keeps climbing.

10,000 was horrifice enough.

25,000...*shakes head*

Akarui Kibuno · Post by **Akarui Kibuno** » Tue Dec 28, 2004 6:24 am

Well, a TV presenter (or something, I don't remember the word) from a French Channel was there at the time (probably on vacation but still) and she's been communicating with her channel ever since, to tell us how it was a man that story's scary and sad and all.

T_T

I know I've seen big waves in my life, but it's always been from far far away...

*sends prayers to those countries*

Slrjoecool · Post by **Slrjoecool** » Tue Dec 28, 2004 8:33 am

Unfortunetly, the death toll is now up to 40,000. It's just horrible....

Post by **AnimeGuru0** » Tue Dec 28, 2004 10:48 am

peachvampiress wrote: Tsunami's are pretty fucking strong, even when they're small. When I was in Kushiro, which is on the East Coast of Hokkaido, the west coast got hit with a fairly stong, but none threatening tsunami. We got some really strong, nasty winds despite how far away we were. A lot of schools got cancelled to. I can only imagine how damaged places untouched my this tsunami are.

Are you sure a tsunami hit Japan while you were there? Tsunamis don't cause wind. I think you're thinking of a typhoon. Japan was hit by like 17 typhoons this year, a record for the country.

Typhoons can cause a tsunami like event, but it's not a tsunami. It's called Storm Surge. It's when the winds just keep pushing the water inland and the sea level can rise up to 20 feet. The difference is that storm surge moves in rather slowly while a tsunami moves in very rapidly. Tsunamis also tend to be 3 or 4 extremely larges waves, while storm surge is just a pile up of thousands of wind created waves. Also, tsunamis are caused by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and meteorite impacts, while storm surge is caused by wind from a typhoon, hurricane, or cyclone.

ParaKiss_Groupie · Post by **ParaKiss_Groupie** » Tue Dec 28, 2004 11:58 am

And Yahoo news chooses to report on a model from the Czech Republic who was injured--not killed--in the tidal wave, rather than all the other, more important facts. The world's fascination with celebrities is really upsetting, sometimes.

mizangelamy · Post by **mizangelamy** » Tue Dec 28, 2004 12:07 pm

ParaKiss_Groupie wrote:And Yahoo news chooses to report on a model from the Czech Republic who was injured--not killed--in the tidal wave, rather than all the other, more important facts. The world's fascination with celebrities is really upsetting, sometimes.

Omg that's just stupid they pick celebrities then life damn.....

yoshmaster5 · Post by **yoshmaster5** » Tue Dec 28, 2004 12:38 pm

mizangelamy wrote:
ParaKiss_Groupie wrote:And Yahoo news chooses to report on a model from the Czech Republic who was injured--not killed--in the tidal wave, rather than all the other, more important facts. The world's fascination with celebrities is really upsetting, sometimes.
Omg that's just stupid they pick celebrities then life damn.....

(EDIT) MSNBC isn't any better. MSN.com, they don't even say it was a tsunami. they say a quake did it. it was a fucking tsunami http://www.msn.com/ and the "Top" news crap is "best/worst fashion, gift cards, and sales" (/EDIT)

I hate this age sometimes.

http://apnews1.iwon.com//article/200412 ... e&SEC=news

death toll hit 44,000 people today... *shudder* could this kill as many as the hurricane in Bangladesh did? *it killed 300,000 people, and no it is not an exaggeration*

RoastedTwinkies · Post by **RoastedTwinkies** » Tue Dec 28, 2004 2:39 pm

I'm having a brain fart here, but if I remember correctly, last night CNN was saying that the damage was so extensive, it would take years to rebuild some of the societies there.

yoshmaster5 · Post by **yoshmaster5** » Tue Dec 28, 2004 4:19 pm

RoastedTwinkies wrote:I'm having a brain fart here, but if I remember correctly, last night CNN was saying that the damage was so extensive, it would take years to rebuild some of the societies there.

I know they said something like that on News Hour w/ Jim Lehler. That villages were leveled, and the polluted water will take years or decades to become purified again.

peachvampiress · Post by **peachvampiress** » Tue Dec 28, 2004 4:57 pm

AnimeGuru0

Are you sure a tsunami hit Japan while you were there? Tsunamis don't cause wind. I think you're thinking of a typhoon. Japan was hit by like 17 typhoons this year, a record for the country.

No, I'm sorry, you're right, it was a typoon. The one who told me we were hit by a tsunami was the idiot we were with (or as I called him the gaijin posterboy -_-).

44,000 people over night?! That's terrible. I didn't think it'd climb that high, especially not in a few hours.

Edit:Link 59,000 now. Are they really finding these bodies this quickly, or is this just estimates based on people unaccounted for?

RoastedTwinkies · Post by **RoastedTwinkies** » Tue Dec 28, 2004 5:05 pm

peachvampiress wrote:Edit:Link 59,000 now. Are they really finding these bodies this quickly, or is this just estimates based on people unaccounted for?

Last night, all my parents had on TV was CNN. They said that bodies keep washing up ashore, therefore, bringing the number up higher.

Jonathan · Post by **Jonathan** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 12:28 am

This is so horrible. I feel so sad for the people who had to go through that. My prayers are with them, and may God help us all.

Slrjoecool · Post by **Slrjoecool** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 8:29 am

According to CNN, the death toll is now up to 67,000. I believe they are actually finding these bodies, as CNN says:

CNN wrote:"The latest death toll from the Indian Ocean tsunamis has increased to more than 67,000 as relief workers and supplies begin to reach some of the most devastated areas."